


They Deserved Better

by CTeden



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Escape, Gen, Mental health talk I guess, Minor Swearing, One Shot, be kind, what I think is a better ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-20
Updated: 2017-09-20
Packaged: 2019-01-01 01:42:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12145905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CTeden/pseuds/CTeden
Summary: An alternate ending for our favourite shafted characters in Until Dawn. They deserve it.





	They Deserved Better

**Author's Note:**

> Ugh I've had this story stored in my phone for over a year now because I thought it was garbage and gave up on it.   
> I wanted to develop Jessica's insecure personality by having that niggling voice in the back of her head making bitchy comments about everything just to put her down. I wrote those parts in italics but I don't know if they'll show up on here because I don't know how this site works.

Until Dawn.

The air was too dry down here, too thick for her to breathe. She was barely able to let out a wheeze of life before she weakly gave out a cry of pain. Blood warm and sticky all over her skin, yet it was making her feel even colder in the winter air.   
"Help..." But no noise escaped her lips. 

Just lay here, Jess. Lay here a while. 

No. The... The thing that dragged her out here was somewhere, most likely close by. She had to save herself, and warn the others. But did Mike make it? Was he attacked and was that why she was still alive? As she tried to stand, her entire body began to burn. An agony unlike anything she'd ever experienced sprang through her, like she was being electrocuted. That was when she realised how much trouble she was in. Her skin was already bruised, a vicious dark purple oozing around the worst of her wounds. Deep cuts riddled her body, like razor sharp claw marks. A lot of the blood had dried, turning dark and crusty with age. She tried to shift a little, get up and get the hell out of here, but her body couldn't handle it. There was a painful ache in her ribs, and she immediately knew a few were broken, as was her left wrist. It was the same pain she felt when she broke her leg ten years before (which halted her ballet and she lost interest by the time her leg was healed). There was a similar pain in her knee, but it wasn't broken, so she could walk. She'd never been so banged up in all her life.

What's the point in trying? You'll freeze to death before you get out of here.

"No!" Jessica wheezed, overconfidence sparking in her. She had to move.

But it hurts so bad!

I don't care. And she pushed herself up with her grazed elbows, doing everything she could to ignore the pain shooting through her body.through grit teeth and pure will she was sitting up, though breathing was agonising. Her injured knee was already turning deep purple, and the rest of her didn't look any better. A small sob slipped out; she looked awful.

Mike's not gonna want you now!

Mike? He came for her, he tried to rescue her. She had to warn him about what was in the mines. She had to warn everyone. She rose from the broken mineshaft, desperately trying to stay upright and keep calm. A violent chill whipped through the already frozen mine, leaving Jessica trembling. 

It's so cold. It was dark, but not dark enough to leave her blind, in fact, there was an ominous glow surrounding her. She cast a hopeless glance around herself, hoping there would be something of use to her. 

Like there'll be anything, dumbass. This place is abandoned for Christ sake!

That niggling voice of doubt in the back of her head may have been convincing, but it wasn't right. She found a makeshift table in a darker corner of the mine, and found a green miners jacket. 

Not my colour but it'll do... She tugged it on over her bare shoulders, carefully pulling the sleeves over her fragile arms. The fabric was rough and cold, smelled like dirt and desperately needed cleaning. But other than that it would keep her warm. Under the table was a pair of boots, several sizes too big for her but they would protect her bruised feet. The lighter right next to the lantern on the table felt way too convenient. But she still fumbled with it, trying to light the ancient contraption with only one working hand. Eventually it caught alight, much to her surprise. She'd never seen one of these things in her life. But it gave off warmth and lit her path, so she was glad it existed.

The others are probably already dead.

They couldn't be.

I bet they've been looking for you.

But...

And whatever attacked you probably found them as well.

Oh God. Jess couldn't run in her state, but she could limp as fast as possible. With a groan of agony she set off, heading to where the light was coming from. It wasn't too far away.

How the hell do you think you're getting out of here?

She didn't know. Her mind was scrambled and everything really hazy, like this was all a dream. She pushed forward, the light source giving off an enticing warmth that she was all too glad to get close to. It was a small fire, remains of something dry on the ground had caught alight, and what appeared to be a black trail of ash sprayed across the walls of the mine.  
Walking hurt, breathing hurt. Everything hurt. Of course it would; how far did she fall anyway? The cold still clawed at her skin, though it didn't help with the burning sensation of cuts littering her body. The only sound in the mines were her clumsy footsteps and the slight squeaking of the latern's joints. Still didn't look like a way out in sight.

You're exhausted already! 

Don't care. Jessica bit her swollen lip and forced herself forward. It hadn't been long since she'd started her escape, yet her entire being was begging to give up. 

So you get out of the mines... Then what? It's below freezing out there. Whatever it was that dragged you in here is bound to be somewhere.

Fuck. It sent a shiver down her spine just thinking about it. The paranoia of being watched crept under her skin, but she just kept moving. She just needed to find help. Find Mike, or anyone and then it'll all be okay. Hopefully.

"Please! What do you want from me?!" Echoed through the mines, a man's voice. 

"Hello?" She choked out, too weak for even her to hear. 

"Hannah, please!"

Hannah? 

Was she still alive? The guilt that had been niggling at the back of her mind always deepened at the mention of her name, as well as Beth's. But something about hearing her be addressed directly was a whole other ballpark. 

Somebody's close!

But where were they? 

"Don't leave me here!" 

There it was again, way more distinctive this time! Jessica stumbled carelessly towards the voice. It sounded like it was a couple of walls away. 

"For the love of God please don't just leave me! Hannah!!"

She was getting closer, the voice was getting louder! 

What the fuck is that?

It first appeared as a shadow in the corner of her vision, but it became something much, much worse. A grey, gangly body that looked rotted, yet very much still alive, just sprawled against the rocky wall like a spider. It didn't look human... It turned its head, to glare at her with dead eyes, baring its razor-sharp teeth. It was mostly hidden by darkness, almost like a figment of her imagination. But she could feel its presence.

Oh shit! Run, Jessica! 

But she couldn't. She was frozen in place as it stared right at her.

IT WILL KILL YOU IF YOU DON'T RUN!

But almost as soon as it appeared, it crawled away, moving inhumanly across the wall. Once it was completely out of sight, Jessica let out the breath she didn't realise she was holding. Why did it not attack her?

"Hannah!!"

It was where that thing came from. She moved along carefully, in case another decided to come out. In a sudden shake of pain she collapsed into the wall. 

Keep moving, Jessica.

And she did. With every fiber of her being she pushed, forcing herself to get there. So close she could almost taste it. The shouting grew more urgent, drowning to cries. She reached the corner, turning into a second path of the mines. The area, from what she could see, was bathed in natural light. And a person sobbing on the ground. 

"Josh?" She croaked, dragging herself along the wall faster than her body could take her. It was him, wasn't it? She forced herself off the wall, walking a little more steady as she made her way to him. 

"Josh?" She repeated a lot more clearly. Josh looked up from the ground, his eyes red and shiny with tears. But he didn't seem exactly happy to see her?

"No, no, no! Not you! You're dead!! Please, not you too, Jess, I didn't mean for you to die!" He bellowed, shaking his head eratically. 

"What? Josh... I'm not- oh God, Josh." Jessica could only manage a whisper as she stumbled closer to him. But he backed away like a repelled magnet, trying to stand on his feet. 

"I'm not dead, I'm right here!" She demanded weakly, moving in closer. "I don't..."

"B-but Mike said..." He cried, looking around as if there was someone else here.

"Mike?" Too many questions for her to ask, but only so much she could say. But Josh didn't reply. He was just gazing around the area, clearly looking for something. She turned to look as well, hoping not to come face to face with that monster. But there was nothing there. 

"Josh?"

"Where's... Where's Beth? A-and Hannah... The pig?" He was bewildered, looking directly at her like she had only just arrived.

"What?" Had he taken something? Was he on a drug trip? "Josh, we need to-"

"Jess?" 

"What?"

"You're alive?" The tears had stopped falling, but his eyes were still wet. 

"Hopefully." She wheezed forcefully, weakly grabbing hold of his arm, and trying to drag him towards the (maybe) way out. "Move."

"They're not real." Josh spoke sadly, hanging his head but complying with her and moving forward. 

The statement was crazy enough to peak her interest, but it had to wait. "Which way do we go?" She took a step forward, for a split second forgetting how much pain she was in, and collapsed. Josh quickly came to her side, taking the lantern and gently trying to pick her up. Her ribs were in so much pain. His arm wrapped carefully around her waist, he half-hoisted her up to take her weight, but so she could still walk. 

"Soft..." He didn't even realise he said it until the words left his mouth, and he shook his head. "You're not looking too hot."

"Yeah, thanks." She replied dryly. Her body couldn't handle the amount of pain she was in, it was messing with everything she did. Tears stung her eyes despite the pain subsiding considerably, she couldn't be crying without reason.

It's okay to break down, but wait until you're safe.

The universe seemed to absolutely hate her, and why wouldn't it. 

"Am I... Am I hurting you?" Josh asked unsurely as he took another step forward.

"No..." She coughed "But we're so boned."

He laughed, albeit choked by the remnants of his crying, and it clearly wasn't because what she said was funny. Josh was laughing to ease the tension.

Good to see he's acting slightly more normal... Bits and pieces of odd memories from the last few years were shifting around her mind like a puzzle suspended in mid-air. Like the time Ashley had a panic attack in class because she got detention, and later on Josh did everything he could to lighten the mood. After that, detention was a walk in the park for Ashley, not that she got detention often. But with these memories came the obvious regrets, and the problem with regrets is that they won't change. They won't disappear overnight. And regretting her own actions was something Jessica had gotten all too used to. She had to take things too far, then live with the consequences of something she could never change no matter how much she wanted to. Like the Hannah incident. She'd orchestrated the prank from the beginning, and didn't care enough about Hannah to realise how cruel it really was. No matter how many "you weren't to know she and Beth would disappear" she heard or "it was out of your control" it still happened and it was still her fault. 

"Oh God, Josh, I'm so sorry..."  
"For what?" He questioned as he dragged the two of them through the mines. It was getting colder.

Jessica swallowed hard. "For Hannah and Beth. I'm so sorry I did that to them." It should have been therapeutic to faces one's demons, but it physically pained her to admit it, as though verbalising her thoughts and feelings made them all the more real. Putting them put into the world felt like drinking poison, sending toxic pain through her entire body. Please don't forgive me... Because he shouldn't. Apologising wasn't for the benefit of being forgiven, it was because Josh was so hurt and messed up by what happened to his sister, and he needed her to say it. Hannah and Beth's deaths were ruining his life, making him lose his already fragile mind. 

"I know you are, Jess." He finally replied, a sad hum clouding his voice. "I think I always knew..."

He slowed his pace just a little, looking around cautiously. Hannah wouldn't hurt him, would she? The thing that she was now, that dragged Mike underwater, the guy she had been crushing on for a long time. Was she still the same, or had she lost her mind like he'd lost his? The cold breeze shifted a little in the stale air, and light was more pronounced even without the lantern, as if they wouldn't even need it anymore. They must be close to a way out. The slightest wisps of snowflakes danced through the cold air, meaning they were close. Jess was getting heavier by the second, her steps clumsier, her grip softening.  
"Jess?"   
"Hmmph..." She croaked back.  
"Shit, Jess, you gotta stay awake! Keep walking!"  
She coughed, flinching at the pain in her chest, "I'm cold." She sobbed, "and it hurts."  
Gritting his teeth, Josh tried to steady her on her feet. "We need to go."  
"I know." She groaned, standing awkwardly on the ground. The sting of the cold was getting worse, and the dank smell of the mines wasn't so strong. They were so close now, Jessica could almost taste the clear air outside.   
"It wasn't supposed to go this way..." Josh mumbled incoherently, "it's all wrong."

You're preaching to the choir, man. All I wanted to do was bang Mike.

"Our three-way would've been so hot." Jess rasped unintelligibly, barely a whisper. If only things had gone differently. This would have been a night to remember for all the right reasons. Her first time with Mike was supposed to be full of romance and passion. Right now she should be closer to him than any other other person in the world, not wondering whether or not he's dead.

It was barely dawn, the sun hidden behind the expanse of clouds and mountains. Cold mist emitting from  
Her mouth, Jess pressed closer against Josh for warmth.  
"Where's the lodge?" She rasped through clenched teeth. Josh would know his way around the mountain, surely.  
"I don't... Uh... It's not far, I think." He stammered, shifting faster in the snow. Her legs were already feeling numb from the cold, the air stung her skin bitterly, making each movement hurt. She could hear him mumbling under his breath.  
"Not in my head. Not in my head." Over and over again.  
"It's okay, Josh. We're gonna make it." The pain in her wrist had subsided into a dull ache, so long as she kept it held to her chest. The gash on her cheek stung, the dried blood cracking every time she moved her jaw. This had to work out somehow. She and Josh were going to be fine.

"Emily?" A voice scraped through the dark forest, igniting a sense of fear in Jess for a split second.  
"Matt!" She croaked, watching impatiently as his silhouette stumbled through the snow.   
"Jess?! Josh?!?" Matt wheezed erratically, trying to catch his breath. "But you... They said you died!"   
As if their situation was anything other than dire, Josh sniggered.   
"It was just a prank..." Mirroring Emily's last words to Hannah before she and Beth disappeared. A distant explosion ripped through the cold air, sending a wave of nausea through Jessica. Dear God what was that?  
"We need to move, it's gotta be the others!" Matt took the lead, rushing to Jess' side. Her knees felt shaky, she couldn't walk any further. Her feet were numb, but not enough to ignore the bite of winter, or the pain of walking. She felt the slightest tug of Josh's grip on the collar of her jacket, beckoning her forward. She could feel it in how Josh moved; he was ready to give up as well. They were tired, hurting, and scared. All of them. How much more could they stand? They were all sitting ducks out in the open. And if those monsters didn't kill them, they'd probably freeze to death.   
"Maybe we should go back... In the mines." Jess suggested exhaustingly.  
Matt's face visibly paled at her words, and he turned to her with urgency.   
"No! Whatever's in there... I... I saw things in the mines. Blood. Bodies. God knows what else. I can't go back in there!" Matt cried, going so far as to try leading them further away from the mountain.   
"Hannah's in there." Josh said matter-of-factly.   
"What are you talking... Hannah's IN there?! She's alive?"   
Josh nodded sadly. "She's a monster."  
She couldn't have been... "Is Hannah that... Thing?"  
"What are you talking about?" Matt stopped in his tracks. The slightest hint of sunlight burned in the horizon, just a little through the clouds. The low rumblings of dawn had begun. The innocent chirps of birds were suddenly distorted by a loud whirring noise.  
"A helicopter!" Matt winced as he waved his arms, desperate for their one shot at escape.  
"It won't see us." Josh spoke calmly, albeit with a glum undertone in his voice, "we need to get to the lodge."

Come on, Jess. Time to be as level-headed as these guys.

But all she wanted to do was lay on the floor and scream until her voice gave out, cry about this night and last year and how everything was completely fucked. She wanted to freak out over whatever the hell that thing was in the mines. And she wanted to have sex with Mike- their first time together- and spend the weekend evolving their relationship, become best friends as well as lovers. She wanted to say sorry to Emily for how she dealt with the situation, try to get her girl back. Beg Chris to just make a move on Ashley. Talk to Sam, the animal lover, about how much she wanted a pet hedgehog. Ask Ashley to sit with her at lunch, and maybe get help with her homework.

Don't think about that. You know you'll get into all your boring ass regrets and all the things you haven't done yet. Slippery slope, bitch.

She wasn't even aware they'd stopped walking, Josh gripping onto the shoulder of her jacket, Matt holding his head in his hands. She didn't understand why, until she looked up. The helicopter was flying away. Without them. 

Oh God please no. Jess shivered from the aching cold, a feeling of dread, like bile, rising in her gut. It was totally hopeless.   
"We have to move." Josh spoke plainly, "get to the lodge and think about what we're gonna do." 

Oh shit.

"No. No!" Matt yelled out as they watched the lodge thinning under the rage of the fire.   
"What happened?" Josh choked through the slightest hint of tears.   
"Footprints..." Jess mumbled, bending painfully to look at them closely. Matt did the same.   
"They look... Fresh! The others have been here!"  
Hopefully they were rescued.  
Hopefully they weren't dead.  
Hopefully they would all survive.

"We need to get to the cable car." Josh decided, and stuffed his hand in his pocket. The slight rattle of keys shot through the sound of wind and rustling trees. Their escape was in Josh's hands. Jess sniffed as she thought of the last time she was on the trail; dance-walking through the path with Mike, holding hands and talking. Mike told her a great joke about a goat walking into a... Wait, it was a sheep... Aren't they the same thing? She forgot the joke, but it was funny nonetheless. This trail was uneven, making every clumsy step more difficult to manoeuvre. Josh's grip on her coat tightened as she stumbled.   
"Thanks." She said quietly, heaving a sound of pain. Every movement made her aching bones feel even worse. The sting of her wrist was agonising, she kept it clutched to her chest.   
Jess looked towards Matt, who was the least beat up out of all of them, and stared at the shovel in his hands. If another one of those monsters came for them, they were all relying on him. He was the sporty one, after all. Despite dawn cracking through the night sky, the forest wasn't any less terrifying. Every sound felt like the mountain's war cry, ready to eat them alive at any second.   
"How long until we get to the cable car?" The vulnerability in her voice was daunting. She would never let herself show weakness in front of anyone, it was one of her survival tactics in life. Like being a superbitch to regular bitches.  
"Not much longer..." Josh replied slowly, eyes darting back and forth through the darkness. The gash on his forehead was still bleeding, a trail of Crimson dripping down his temple, yet it didn't seem to phase him. Matt had a few nasty lacerations on his face, covered in dirt and coal, he must have been in the mines for a long time. His prized letterman jacket was torn pretty much everywhere; it couldn't be saved. None of them would be asking for a mirror anytime soon.   
Trying to walk had reached its peak difficulty, any longer and Jess could swear she would keel over. Her legs couldn't stop shaking, whether it was from the weather or her wounds, it didn't matter. She had to take a break soon. But getting off this mountain was more important than a five-minute sit down.   
Left foot, right foot. Left foot, right foot.   
Left foot, right foot.   
Left foot...  
"I see the cable car!" Josh spluttered, hope sparked in his voice. Their speed picked up considerably, as if something would pop out at the last minute. It was always the standard for great moments like this. Something had to ruin it...

But nothing did.

They escaped.


End file.
